The Cobb-Douglas regression, a statistical technique developed to estimate what economists called a 'production function', was introduced in the late 1920s. For several years, only economist Paul Douglas and a few collaborators used the technique, while vigorously defending it against numerous critics. By the 1950s, however, several economists beyond Douglas's circle were using the technique, and by the 1970s, Douglas's regression, and more sophisticated procedures inspired by it, had beco...

The collection includes both refereed articles and review essays of recently published books in the history of economic thought and methodology. The articles highlight the work of Warren J. Samuels (founding editor of the research annual), American economists' role in the creation of federal trade acts, and Islamic economic methodology. A review symposium on Malcolm Rutherford's The Institutionalist Movement in America is followed by reviews of books on Adam Smith, George Warde Norman, Wil...

This volume includes archival documents and essays exploring the inter-relationship between the government and the economy. In the first piece, Levy, Peart, and Albert examine the one-sided controversy generated by Rose Wilder Lane and V. Orval Watts against a new generation of Keynes-influenced textbooks which focused on governmental policy and the scope of government activity. In addition to their essay, Levy et al. include significant and interesting historical documents as part of the ...

Warren J. Samuels has been a prominent figure in the study of economics in the twentieth century. This book brings together essays by leading scholars in the areas of economics in which Samuels has made his most important contributions: the history of economic thought, economic methodology, and institutional and post-Keynesian economics. This work

Research in the History of Economic Thought and Methodology is an annual research series which presents materials in two fields, both broadly considered: the history of economic thought and the methodology of economics. The annual A-volume contains peer-reviewed articles comparable to other academic journals in the history of economics, except that long pieces are welcome. The A-volume also publishes symposia, and review essays on new works in the history of economic thought, methodology a...

This groundbreaking collection explores the profound power of Social Reproduction Theory to deepen our understanding of everyday life under capitalism. While many Marxists tend to focus on the productive economy, this book focuses on issues such as child care, health care, education, family life and the roles of gender, race and sexuality, all of which are central to understanding the relationship between economic exploitation and social oppression.In this book, leading writers suc...

Debates about global justice have traditionally fallen into two camps. Statists believe that principles of justice can only be held among those who share a state. Those who fall outside this realm are merely owed charity. Cosmopolitans, on the other hand, believe that justice applies equally among all human beings. On Global Justice shifts the terms of this debate and shows how both views are unsatisfactory. Stressing humanity's collective ownership of the earth, Mathias Risse off...

Adam Smith turned economic theory on its head in 1776 when he declared that the pursuit of self-interest mediated by the market itself--not by government--led, via an invisible hand, to the greatest possible welfare for society as a whole. The Hesitant Hand examines how subsequent economic thinkers have challenged or reaffirmed Smith's doctrine, some contending that society needs government to intervene on its behalf when the marketplace falters, others arguing that government int...

Yascha Mounk shows why a focus on personal responsibility is wrong and counterproductive: it distracts us from the larger economic forces determining aggregate outcomes, ignores what we owe fellow citizens regardless of their choices, and blinds us to key values such as the desire to live in a society of equals. In this book he proposes a remedy.

When do governments merit our allegiance, and when should they be denied it? Ian Shapiro explores this most enduring of political dilemmas in this innovative and engaging book. Building on his highly popular Yale courses, Professor Shapiro evaluates the main contending accounts of the sources of political legitimacy. Starting with theorists of the Enlightenment, he examines the arguments put forward by utilitarians, Marxists, and theorists of the social contract. Next he turns to the anti-...

In The Worldly Philosophers, Robert Heilbroner set out to describe what the great economists thought would happen to the system of capitalism. In later books. Professor Heilbroner projected his own views about the future of the capitalist system. Now he asks a still more demanding question: What is capitalism?In search of an answer, The Nature and Logic of Capitalism takes us on a far-ranging exploration to the unconscious levels of the h...

When do governments merit our allegiance, and when should they be denied it? Ian Shapiro investigates this most enduring of political dilemmas in this innovative and engaging book.Shapiro discusses the different answers that have been proposed by the major political theorists in the utilitarian, Marxist, and social contract traditions over the past four centuries. Showing how these political philosophies have all been decisively shaped by the core values of the Enlightenment, he de...